We talked to Umut Zenar, CEO of Çimsa, about Çimsa’s unwavering success in the BIST 50 and BIST Sustainability 25 Index and its valuable work on Gender Equality.
“We address sustainability in cement, a product that is consumed 4 billion tons every year in the world and has no substitutes, from a broad perspective covering our value chain. The efficiency we create in our operations by focusing on sustainability is reflected positively on our financial results. We sustain our efforts to continue creating additional value for all our stakeholders. Being among the most highly valued shares in the BIST 50 index is one of the concrete results of our efforts.”
ÇİMSA accelerated its investments in sustainable production. Firstly, I would like to ask, what does “sustainability” mean to you? Could you answer this both personally and from ÇİMSA’s corporate perspective?
In today’s world, the value of a company is no longer measured only by the economic benefit it creates. The meaning of that company in terms of society is that its environmental, social and economic performance is holistically high and that these are sustainable. We also evaluate sustainability within this framework. We contribute and do our part to make the world we live in a better place and to live in harmony with other living beings.
“Equality, Diversity and Inclusion”, which includes gender equality, is now one of the most important agenda items of all companies. As Çimsa, we support gender equality and continue our efforts in this context. We directly contribute to SDG 5 Gender Equality with our work and practices in line with our egalitarian, diversity- oriented and inclusive cultural structure.
As many studies show, women are underrepresented in the business world. Our sector, which makes a significant contribution to the national economy, has been among the sectors where women’s employment has been limited until now, as it is in the heavy and hazardous labor sector. Therefore, at Çimsa, we see it as an important responsibility to develop practices that can pioneer our industry to ensure gender equality. At Çimsa, we embrace gender equality not only in working life but also in all areas of society.
What are you doing to increase women’s employment? Can you tell us about your projects?
At Çimsa, we implement many projects and practices to ensure gender equality.
We consider all our working life processes through the lens of gender equality. We include gender equality obligations in our contracts with suppliers and subcontractors. We take care not to use sexist discourse in our corporate communication. We carry out our gender equality activities, which we manage with a holistic perspective, in the areas of taking actions that take into account gender equality in recruitment, career planning and promotion processes, measures taken to ensure work-life balance, the principle of equal pay for equal work, trainings, the existence of mechanisms that can be applied against discrimination, procurement processes and communication.
In our roadmap to increase women’s employment, we aim to increase our white-collar female employee ratio from 26% in 2022 to 30% by 2030.
We especially want to increase the number of blue-collar female staff, which is also low in our sector. We have hired many female employees in recent years. By analyzing all our existing sites and locations and creating decent working conditions, we have ensured that the physical facilities provided to male and female employees are equal. We have taken sustainable steps to ensure that this equality continues in the future.
We organized training programs for all our employees in order to disseminate the gender equality perspective and raise awareness.
“We carry out our gender equality activities, which we manage with a holistic perspective, in the areas of taking actions that take into account gender equality in recruitment, career planning and promotion processes, measures taken to ensure work-life balance, the principle of equal pay for equal work, trainings, the existence of mechanisms that can be applied against discrimination, procurement processes and communication.”
There are no female plant operators and mixer operators in the ready-mixed concrete sector. Another project of yours is the “Biz de Varız” project in cooperation with Çimsa İşkur. How did the project develop? How do women view the idea of becoming a mixer operator?
As Çimsa, we continue to work on potential projects to increase women’s employment by focusing on the principle of “Equality at Work”. In cooperation with the Governorship of Mersin and Mersin Directorate of İşkur, we launched the project “Increasing Female Employment in the Field in Ready-Mixed Concrete”. With this project, we will employ female ready-mixed concrete mixer operators. Candidates selected through İşkur will complete their training at Çimsa Academy and start working in our company.
We believe that this project will be an important step in showing that work can be done with appropriate competences regardless of gender and that women can be employed in different fields. We also think that it will set an example in the sector and create a social impact.
Çimsa, you have taken your place among the most highly valued shares in the BIST 50 Index, how would you summarize this success?
As Çimsa, we work to make the world we live in a better place and do our part. We address sustainability in cement, a product that is consumed 4 billion tons every year in the world and has no substitutes, from a broad perspective covering our value chain. The efficiency we create in our operations by focusing on sustainability is reflected positively on our financial results. We sustain our efforts to continue creating additional value for all our stakeholders. Being among the most highly valued shares in the BIST 50 index is one of the concrete results of our efforts.
“In line with the commitment of Sabancı Holding, of which we are a subsidiary, to be carbon neutral by 2050, we launched the decarbonization project under the leadership of Sabancı Holding in 2022. In this context, our goal is to reduce our carbon emissions by 2030.”
You continued to maintain your position as the first and only cement company to be included in the BIST Sustainability 25 Index, how do you ensure sustainability in cement?
In order to create sustainable cities and living spaces, we develop sustainable business models by including our suppliers, customers and business partners with investments that touch people and society. Within the scope of our responsible investment practices, we shape our social sustainability approach by supporting protected areas for the sustainability of the ecosystem.
In line with the commitment of Sabancı Holding, of which we are a subsidiary, to be carbon neutral by 2050, we launched the decarbonization project under the leadership of Sabancı Holding in 2022. In this context, our goal is to reduce our carbon emissions by 2030. To this end, within the scope of our sustainability strategy, the Science Based Target Initiative accepted our commitment to set near- term emission reduction targets in line with climate science. We are pleased that our commitment has been recognized by this global and prestigious initiative, which is closely followed by investors, public institutions and academia. In summary, our approach to operationally realize the approaches recommended by global trends brings us to the forefront in these platforms.
Which of the energy renewable energy types such as sun, wind, water, or which ones do you prioritize? Why do you prefer to use this kind of energy?
The use of sustainable resources such as solar, water and wind energy have an important place in the energy strategies of countries in the fight against climate change. In order to reduce global emissions by half by 2030 compared to 1990, a large-scale transformation towards the use of renewable energy is required. In this process, Çimsa aims to continue to be a part of the circular economy and fulfill the requirements of green transformation. In addition to optimizing existing technologies, we are also working to increase the energy we obtain from renewable sources. While the rate of electricity generated from renewable energy sources was 58.2% in 2022, we aim to increase this rate to over 80% in 2030. In this context, we believe that our solar energy investments will make a great contribution to the reduction of emissions, which is a common problem of the whole world. We plan our investments by prioritizing efficiency, recovery and renewable energy investments, especially on the main axis of sustainability.
Following the Solar Power Plant (SPP) project we initiated at your Afyon Plant, you have started SPP preparations at your Buñol Plant in Spain. How many projects has ÇİMSA completed so far with a focus on energy efficiency and what has it done?
We are establishing a solar power plant at our Buñol Plant in Spain with an investment of 4.2 million Euros. The system, which will be installed turnkey by ID Energy Group, will have an installed capacity of 7.2 MW and will generate approximately 12 GWh of electricity per year. With the active commissioning of the SPP project, in which 11 thousand solar panels will be used on an area of 100 thousand square meters, the size of 14 football fields, in 2023, our factory will meet 16% of its energy needs from its own resources.
The installation of the SPP project in our Afyon Factory is about to be completed. We are installing a solar power plant here, which will have an installed capacity of 3.3 MW and will generate approximately 4.2 million kWh of electricity annually. The plant will also have a capacity equivalent to the annual electricity needs of 3,000 households.
With a focus on energy efficiency, we have completed 28 projects in the last 3 years, including our SPP projects in Afyon and Bunol, Spain.
Do you have any energy efficiency focused investment projects that have not been announced yet?
Yes, we do. We continue to work on electricity generation projects from the waste heat generated as a particular result of the clinker production process.
Sustainability, of course, does not only focus on green production and energy efficiency. The 17 titles of the Sustainable Development Goals also focus on solving important problems. For example, Article 8 states “Decent Work and Economic Growth”, and you have recently received the “Outstanding Employee Experience” award and were selected as the happiest workplace in Turkiye. Which “sustainable” goals do you focus on both in ÇİMSA’s internal communication and in the external world where you have social responsibility?
We continue to create value in social and governance areas, which are other focal points of sustainability. With our new generation human resources approaches, we make a difference with our pioneering practices and with the aim of becoming the most preferred employer brand in the sector. As a result of these efforts, we were selected as Turkiye’s Happiest Workplace last year in the cement sector and this year in the building materials sector in the Turkiye’s Happiest Workplaces Survey conducted by Happy Place to Work in cooperation with Capital Magazine. We were also recently awarded the Great Place to Work Certificate in the program conducted by the Great Place to Work Institute.
We observe the principle of “Equality at Work” in all processes and offer equal opportunities to all our employees. With all these activities in the field of sustainability, we will continue to support our multi-faceted sustainability strategy and be a pioneer in the development of sustainable living spaces.
“We continue to work on electricity generation projects from the waste heat generated as a result of the clinker production process.”